


out of nowhere and into my life

by cinderlily



Series: preschool teacher verse [2]
Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-23
Updated: 2010-04-23
Packaged: 2017-10-09 02:57:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/pseuds/cinderlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David sees if things will sink or float and Cook decides to try the same thing. Sequel to <a href="http://cinderlily.livejournal.com/628303.html#cutid1">you know this could be something</a>(in which David teaches 2 and 3 year olds and Cook teaches music)</p>
            </blockquote>





	out of nowhere and into my life

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second part, the first part is "you know this could be something"
> 
> My beta love has to go out to [](http://fromiftowhen.livejournal.com/profile)[**fromiftowhen**](http://fromiftowhen.livejournal.com/) and [](http://rajkumari905.livejournal.com/profile)[**rajkumari905**](http://rajkumari905.livejournal.com/). How much do I love those two? I'll tell you? A freaking lot. They both made this process a whole lot easier and sweeter and **awesome**. Also they just rock my flist in general. :) So I am lucky to have them around.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Current mood:** |   
silly  
---|---  
**Current music:** | Michael Bublé: Haven't Met You Yet  
**Entry tags:** |   
[cook/archuleta](http://cinderlily.livejournal.com/tag/cook/archuleta), [fics](http://cinderlily.livejournal.com/tag/fics)  
  
  
_ **Fic :: Cook/Archuleta "out of nowhere and into my life"** _

The next week Cook made a point to have the 2C class (David's class) as his last of the day. Which actually was a huge deal that messed with schedules and got him in a little bit of trouble, but the boss had a thing for his smile and he knew when to play on his charms. So it wasn't too big to handle. He walked into the room to find David cross-legged in the middle of the table surrounded by little kids crowding in and shoving random things towards him. In front of him was a big, clear container of water.

It must've been too loud to hear the door click, so Cook got a long moment to watch David smiling at the class. "Okay, what's next? Okay. Carys gave me a wooden block, do you think it's going to sink or float?"

"SINK!" and "FOAT!" came in equal chorus from around the table and a few kids said "DUNNO!"

"Okay, hush now," he said with his hands up. "Let's test out the theory."

David put the block over the water and, with a dramatic pause, he waited before he released it. The kids all leaned in and focused heavily on the water. The block bobbed, almost got to the bottom, but a moment later floated to the top.

"OH would you look at that," David said, his voice portraying surprise even if Cook was sure he had done this before. "It's because the wooden block is less dense than the water, so it floats."

A grubby hand pushed a toy truck towards David, "Dis un, DIS UN."

"Sorry Clay," David frowned. "But maybe next time. We have a visitor now."

The whole class turned to Cook and, not for the first time, he felt a little intimidated. They all lit up, though, and charged at him with a chorus of, "OOOOOOK."

He couldn't quite make it down in time, so he was bowled over and landed square on his butt in the middle of the floor, astounded at the power that little kids in packs could bring. It wasn't his most graceful moment, and the 'Ooof" might have come out as more of an 'Ouch', as David was at his side helping him up at record speed.

"Oh gosh, are you okay?" David asked, hand on his arm. "Hey, okay Ducklings, back away from Mr. Cook. Back away."

Cook laughed when the kids did exactly what David said. Not that Ms. Paula wasn't a great teacher, but she was far less organized and a little more of an 'Earth mom' style teacher. She let them feel out what they wanted to do. (Which normally resulted in a group of kids running amuck and not really hearing what was being said.)

"Guitar's still good," he smiled. "All good. It's always nice to get a good reception."

David blushed. "They aren't exactly patient. But we made do."

"I can see that," he pointed at the plastic tub and then looked at the kids. "What about me, do you think I'd sink or float?" He started towards the table and got a giddy set of giggles when he pretended to lift a leg to put in the tub.

"SIIIIINK!" he got in a loud chorus.

David reached him and laughingly grabbed his arm. "Mr. Cook is just being silly. We don't put people in there, do we?"

"No…." the kids giggled again. "Silly Oook."

"Aww, well, you guys are probably right," Cook winked at David. "Plus if I got the guitar wet, how would we sing?"

Without another word, the kids went streaming to the carpet, where they sat down in what could probably be the closest to a half circle any group of two and three year olds could manage. He smiled at David.

"Man, Mr. David, you got this teaching thing down to a science," he teased. David rubbed at the back of his neck and looked down at the floor.

"Thanks?" he replied, almost a question. He turned away. "I think I'm going to empty this out. I'll be back in just like two minutes. I promise."

Cook nodded, and went over to the empty spot meant for him to sing in. He unzipped his guitar case and slipped it out. He loved the way the kids still looked at it like it was something magical, even if they had seen it once a week for who knows how long. He had an odd lump of disappointment when he watched David leave the room, but he ignored it and looked at the kids instead.

"Hey wait, do you guys hear that?"

The little chatter that had been going on went instantly silent. Cook smiled at how quickly he could get them under control, only took him two years to get that down. They all looked at him expectantly and he let the moment drag for a little before he went on.

"I think I heard some dinosaurs, did you hear them? It's almost like they're… marching?"

Max caught on first and giddily clapped his hands, screaming, "MAWCHIN! MAWCHIN!"

Cook went into Laurie Berkner's 'We are the Dinosaurs.' Even with half the kids not singing along and about a quarter just screaming at the top of their lungs, it still came out pretty good if he said so himself.

When he got to the part where all the kids had to scream, 'WAKE UP COOK!', he saw that David was back but he was turned around from the carpet and seemed to be focused on the counter. Something dropped in his stomach and he tried to ignore the strange pull at the back of his mind. He had spent the week kind of planning on what he was going to say to David when he got there, and maybe replaying watching the teacher sing along. Maybe he was reading everything wrong.

He finished the song and looked back at the kids with his best smile. He was being the kind of guy he hated, so he tried to laugh it off. The kids all looked a little antsy already so he figured movement would be a good idea.

"Okay, stand up everybody," he said and they all stood up eagerly. "We're going to play 'Stop and Go', does everybody remember that game?"

Most jumped up and down, but those who didn't seemed to catch on pretty easily. He played the song and paused at random intervals (his personal favorite was when they got to the 'rock and roll' bit, because all of the kids had different versions and it was just amusing. Made him think of doing this song at an actual gig… only not) and led the kids around to get as much energy out as he could.

(He caught eyes once or twice with David, who seemed to look over just when he was about to make the biggest ass out of himself. Cook just smiled. He worked around kids so long that he lost the shame reflex.)

Cook finally saw what David had been doing when he came back to the carpet with neat little rows of plates filled with food. Cook relaxed, and when the kids all got back to their seats, which took a minute or so, Cook started his last song, 'Song in my Tummy.' The kids wiggled around and made silly noises and Cook kind of wanted to keep playing the songs for as long as possible, but he knew that testing their patience wasn't the best idea, so he ended on a high note and gave an exaggerated sniff.

"Now I really hear a song in my tummy, cause something smells awfully good," he rubbed his stomach. He looked over at David, who stood up, looking significantly taller when Cook was at this angle. "I wonder what it could be?"

"YUNCH!" Clay bellowed at the top of his lungs, getting to his feet before he saw David shake his head.

Cook, now just an observer because the food was the important part, watched in fascination as David pointed to each of the kids and had them sit down at the tables in an orderly fashion. When they all sat down David went through the plates and handed kids their plates to hand out like it was no big deal. Organized like a factory worker but still a relaxed and happy teacher. Cook would compliment him, if it wouldn't come out all wrong. Cook put his guitar back in its case and got to his feet.

"COOOK!" Brynn bellowed. She was far more advanced when it came to words, even if they were slurred with cream cheese and a bagel. "Stay, please. Stay for yunch."

"YEAH!" Max called out from beside her. "Stay yunch!"

The class all agreed, and Cook found a whole new appreciation for the term gross as food came flying out of two and three year old mouths. David gave him an apologetic look.

"Inside voices please," he asked the class. "And I'm sure Mr. Cook has places he has to go."

But Cook actually didn't. It was technically a day off for him; after his morning music he usually went home and collapsed on his couch to try and catch up on all the sleep he missed during the week. He took a look at the mess around him and the kids all looking up at him with grubby fingers and at how David looked… well. Almost hopeful underneath his discomfort and his couch lost all appeal.

"Of course I'll stay, since you asked so nicely, Ms. Brynn," Cook winked at her. She giggled and then pointed to the empty spot near her.

"HERE, Mr. Cook, HERE."

He set his guitar against the counter and sat in the chair meant for kids a quarter his size (his knees hit his chest). She handed him a piece of her string cheese that looked half eaten and he waved a hand and smiled.

"Thank you," he smiled. "But I'm good…"

From the other table he could hear a snicker and caught sight of David covering his mouth with one hand. Cook cocked an eyebrow and shrugged.

"At least she offered me something," he teased. "How rude of you, Mr. David."

Even though he still smiled, Cook could see the blush start on David's cheeks. "I… uh. Leave after lunch before uh… N-A-P. Have lunch out in the real world, you know?"

There was a joke there about _Jersey Shore_ or _Road Rules_ but the guy didn't seem like an MTV fan so instead he nodded. An idea formed as he watched the little kids eat their lunch. Brynn talked to him, or more accurately _at_ him for a bit but then she and Heather got in a fight about something that Cook really hadn't caught and instead he had to let David referee.

'Lunch' only really lasted twenty minutes before the kids all threw their paper plates away, washed their hands and went back to playing in the small square of carpet. Cook looked over at David.

"Now what?"

David cocked his head. "Um, I clean up and wait for the parents who pick up to pick up. Then whoever is doing nap today comes in and puts the rest for a nap."

"Oh," Cook licked his bottom lip and grabbed a paper towel and started to wet it down, intending to help out.

"You really don't have to do that."

Cook shrugged, "I figure two makes it quicker than one."

"But you're a guest," David said, in a voice that meant that somewhere he had a mother or grandmother that would be tutting at his lack of manners. "Guests don't clean up."

He weighed his options but then threw caution to the wind. Cook lowered his voice so that none of the kids could hear. "Well, Mr. David. What if we went to lunch after this? Then I wouldn't be a guest."

"You'd be a …" David blinked. "You'd be a date?"

Cook just nodded, and cleaned the same spot on the table furiously, even after it was spotless. When had he become shy about asking people out on dates? What's the worst that could happen? He'd say no? No big deal… right?

"I don't know," David said slowly. Suddenly Cook was inundated with reasons that were worse than him saying no. Sexual harassment lawsuits, getting fired… what the hell had he been thinking? "…. I mean you already had one date today."

Cook caught on slowly when he followed David's eye line to where Brynn was playing with a few of the other kids at the kitchen. He couldn't help the loud chortle that came out of his mouth and it startled the kids nearest to him. (He got that a lot.)

"Ook?" Clay asked.

"Nothing buddy," he said through stuttered breath. "Mr. David said something silly." Clay looked at him like most kids did when adults acted weird, but lost track of it and kept racing his truck around the same circle at his feet.

Cook smiled at David who, _thankeverythingholy_, smiled back. "I think she'll get over it… So what do you say?"

But before he could get a response the door swung open and a woman clutching a baby and holding the hand of an older girl walked in and called, "Carys!"

David's face went from relaxed and amused back to responsible teacher in a split second. "Ah, Ms. Jones. How are you?"

Cook stepped out of the way and let David do his thing, which seemed to be an organized run down of everything Carys had done during the day, then handing over a pile of papers and a huge sparkling pink bag. Then came another parent and another and before too long there were only three kids in the class and they were all running back and forth like complete hellions.

"Trying to stay awake," David assured him before he walked over to a closet and opened it to grab a few sleeping bags. "Okay, ducklings… let's see who can be laying down when Ms. Brooke walks in."

That was more of a struggle than earlier, but a minute or so later when the blonde 3A teacher walked into the room with three other kids trailing behind her, they were all in their sleeping bags and vaguely quiet. Brooke beamed David.

"You are the best person ever, you know that, right?"

David smiled. "I'm just... you know. Trying to help."

"You weren't here with Paula," Brooke rolled her eyes and then caught sight of Cook. "Mr. Cook, what are you still doing here?"

Cook decided against saying, 'Not trying to score a date with Mr. David.'

"We're going to lunch," David said, surprisingly calmly. Cook couldn't help but beam.

Brooke looked between them both and then smiled almost-knowingly. "Oh… oh, well then. Have a good time?"

David looked over at Cook and Cook grabbed his guitar. He looked over at Brooke and even though he was pretty sure this barely counted as a date he nodded and tried to not be nervous. "We will. See you next week?"

"See you Mr. Cook," she said, and on the way out the door he could swear he heard her whisper to David, "Everything, you will tell me _everything_."

It would definitely explain the blush on David's face. But Cook couldn't really fault him, his own face was probably beet red.

He loved his job.

ETA: The songs Cook sang (and I sing WAY TOO FREQUENTLY) [Laurie Berkner :: We are the Dinosaurs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLdDKNxrL68)  
[Lisa Loeb :: Stop and Go ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37oqM9qkGk)  
[ Laurie Berkner :: Song in my Tummy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmWo9TBL5Kg)


End file.
